Interlocking pin-socket refractory brick



Sept. 7, 1965 H. A. MARSH, JR 3,

' INTERLOCKING PIN-SOCKET REFRACTORY BRICK Filed Sept. 18. 1963 IINVENTOR HARRY -A.MARsH,.\r.

I ATTORNEYS r brick consisting 3,204,586 INTEE'LUCIKING PigiSKgCKETREFRACTORY Harry A. Marsh, Jr., Rosemont, Pa, asslgnor to E. ii. Lavinaand tCornpany, Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept.18, 1963, Ser. No. 309,696

9 Claims. (Cl. 110 -99) Thisinvention relates to improvements inrefractory bricks designed for use in the repair and/ or construction offurnaces such as metallurgical and other industrial furnaces.

A particular object of the present invention is to provide a novel brickstructure embodying a pin and socket means whereby any number of suchbricks may be .coupled together or interlocked one with another for therepair or construction of a furnace or other structure in which thebrick may be used or is adaptable to use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel I pin-socketrefractory brick designed to facilitate the construction of aselfsupporting sprung arch roof structure,

such as-a sprung arch roof supported by and between skewbacks of an openhearth steel-making furnace.

More specifically, the invention has for its object to i provide aninterlocking pin-socket refractory brick in the bricks firmly joined inassembled relation.

A more particular object of the invention is to provide a pin and socketunit which may be assembled in a re ceiving hole or opening preformed ina burned or unburned brick to provide the finished pin-socket brickstructure.

The present invention is applicable to any type of brick, but itsapplication is primarilydirected to basic chrome.

, In carrying out the present invention, the body of the Y brick is ormay be manufactured either as a burned or unburned brick.

. The pin-socket unit which is connected with or combined with the bodyof the brick consists of a socketed bined therewith a pin-socket unit inaccordance the of magnesite, magnesitechrome and head portion having athreaded stud projecting from the l 7 rear or back face thereof, athreaded pin having two head flanges in spaced relation on one endthereof, and a coupling sleeve inte'riorly threaded to receive the studin one end and, the headed'pin in the other end The brick in the processof manufacture is formed with a hole extending transversely therethroughfrom one face to the other and with recesses at the ends of the hole oneof which recesses receives an inner head flange of the headed pin whilethe other recess receives the'head of the unit, in which is formed asocket for the reception of a head flange of a pin carried by anotherbrick of corre sponding construction. The body of the brick is alsoformed with a suitable recess opening through the top surface thereof tofacilitate the insertion of the terminal head flange of a pin, into thesocket of the head portion of the unit.

Thus the brick body may be preformed with suitable sockets and openingsand the pin-socket unit may be a separately formed and combined with themolded brick, as needed. I

1 we ill thirtie h Patented 5;,

The invention will be best understood from a core sideration of thefollowing detailed description taken in; connection with-theaccompanying drawings formlng a part of the specification and wherein: e7 FIGURE 1 is a perspective viewtof a brick having cornpresentinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section taken substantially on and showing thepin-socket the line 2-4 of FIGURE 1 unit, in side elevation.

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the pin-j socket unit. V

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section through the top end of a formed brick andillustrating the preformed hole and recesses therein for receiving theparts of the pin-socket unit.

the socketed head of the unit.

- FIGURE 6 illustrates, on a small scale, the useof a starter plate inassociation with the pin-socket brick;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a starter plate for supporting fivebricks.

Referring now more particularly to t h e drawings the numeral 10generally designates a brick constructed in I accordance with thepresent invention in having combined therewith the finished assembly ofthe novel pin-socket unit, which'combination forms the complete novelpin socket refractory brick. V a

The body ofthe brickis generally designated the numerals 14 and 16designate functional faces which,

for convenience of description, may be respectively re ferred to as thefront and rear faces of the brick. I

The brick body may be tapered or of wedgeform as illustrated or itmay-be of uniformwidth and thickness from one end to the other. Brick ofthe taperedform or Wedge form are particularly suited for theconstruction of a roof arch such as the sprung arch roof of ametallur-gical furnace or an industrial furnace such asa tunnel kiln.

In my copending application Serf No. 309,750, filed I September 18,1963, disclosing an interlocking brick struc ture and method of roofrepair and construction there is illustrated and described a startingmeans in the form of an apertured plate designed foffacilitating theconstruction of a sprung arch roofand more particularly for ffacilitating the making of repairs in an arch roof by the use of pin andsocket brick.

The brick of the present invention may also be c111 ployed in theconstruction and repair of roots in accord ance with the disclosure inthe stated copending applica- In accordance with the present inventionthe brickbody has installed therein a pin-socket unit which is heregener ally designated 18 and which extends through thebriclt l from thefront to the rear face thereof asshown in FIG URE 2;

The unit 18 embodies three separateparts which are coupled togetherthrough an opening formed in the body of the brick.

The three parts of the pin-socket unit consist'ofthe socketed head whichis generally designated 20, a pin and a coupling element in theform of asleeve 24b The head 20 may be of any suitable'contourother than circularand as here illustrated it is approximately square and embodies thefront and back faee's ze and Z tl respee tively, the top and bottomfaces 30 and 32. respectively and the lateral or side faces 34; Also thetop side corners are cut off or chamfered asindicated at 36. p

The head 20 has formed therein, tlie' soclket opens through the topsurface 30 as shown.

FIGURE 5 is a view in elevation ofthe side of the brick body showing thepreformed socket for receiving lik while i 38; which bottom of thesocket 38.

A threaded stud 42 is joined to and projects at right angles from therear face 28 of the head for cooperation with the sleeve 24 in thecoupling together of the parts when they are installed in the brick bodyin the manner hereinafter set forth.

The sleeve 24 may be of a suitable length to facilitate connecting thehead and pin together and as illustrated the sleeve is interiorly screwthreaded from end to end, as indicated at 44.

The pin 22 terminates at its rear end in the two head flanges 46 and48'. The flange 46 forms the end or terminus of the pin while the flange48, which is of slightly greater diameter than the flange 46, is spacedfrom the flange 46 thus forming the connecting neck portion 50.

Inwardly from the inner flange 48, the pin is screw threaded asindicated at 52 and is adapted to be threaded into an end of sleeve 24.

The terminal flange 46 of the pin 22 is of a diameter greater than thewidth of the slot 449 in the head 20 but is of less width than theinterior of the socket 38. Also the diameter of the neck portion 50 isslightly less than the width of the slot 40 and it is of a lengthslightly greater than the width of the slot from the front face 26 ofthe head to the forward inner side of the socket 38. Thus it will beseen that the terminal head flange 46 of the pin may be introduced intothe socket 38 of the head 20 of another brick carried unit.

The brick body 12'is initially formed as illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5with openings and recesses to receive the parts of the pin-socket unit.

.As previously stated the brick may be manufactured either as'a burnedor unburned brick with the necessary hole and pin, as well as sockethead recesses pressed into the brick. After drying or burning, dependingon whether the brick is chemically bonded or ceramically bonded, thethreaded pin, sleeve and socketed head are installed to give thefinished pin-socket brick.

Accordingly, upon reference to FIGURES 4 and 5 it will be seen that thebody 12 of thebrick is formed with a bore or passage 54 therethroughfrom the front to the rear faces. At the rear face the passage opensinto a circular recess 56 while at the front face of the brick thepassage opens into a recess 58 of polygonal design or contour to conformto and receive the socketed head 20.

In addition to the recesses 56 and 53 the body of the brick is providedwith the pin head entrance recess 60 which opens through the front face14 and through the top surface 62 of the brick body. This entrancerecess 60 is of approximately the same width as the socket 38 so as topermit the terminal head flange 46 of a pin to pass downwardly into thesocket 38.

While the passage or bore 54 may be formed completely through the bodyof the brick in the initial pressing of the terminal recesses, theterminal recesses only may be formed in the material of the brick beforeit is burned or hardened and the passage 54 may be subsequently formedby drilling. In either case the brick body is completed as a burned orunburned brick with the necessary bore or passage and recesses ready toreceive the pin-socket unit.

In installing the unit in the brick body the sleeve 24 may first beconnected with the threaded stud 42 and then the sleeve and studinserted into the bore 54 and the socketed head 20 located in the recess58. The pin 22 will then be inserted into the opposite end of the bore54 and into the sleeve and threaded into the sleeve so as to draw theparts together, in which operation the inner head flange 48 will enterthe recess 56 and will act as a depthstop as the pin is tightenedagainst the brick material.

4 asoassa When the socketed head 20 is thus drawn tightly into therecess 58 the outer face 26 of the head 20 will be flush with theadjacent side of the brick. v I

The socketed head 20 may be of any polygonal outline. The square shapeillustrated or any other noncircular shape, will prevent the pinreceiving slot from turning in the recess 58 during the operation oftightening the pin 22 into the sleeve 24. As long as the recess iscorrectly located during the pressing of the brick, the head 20 and itspin receiving slot will of necessity be locked or secured in its correctposition with the socket-38 in correct alignment with the entrancerecess 60. s

The chamfered corners 36, entering into correspondingly angled portionsof the recess 58 in the brick body, will prevent the socketed head frombeing installed sideways or upside down as might be the case if therecess 58 and the head 20 should be perfectly square or rectangular. I

When the pin-socket unit is secured in the brick body in the mannerdescribed and illustrated in FIGURE 2 the inner head flange 48. on thepin 22 will be completely within the circular recess 56 and the terminalhead flange 46 will project beyond the rear face 16 of the brick body toa suflicient extent to permit it to be snugly inserted into the socket38 of a brick of similar construction so that the two opposing faces oftwo coupled bricks will be relatively tightly held or secured together.

As hereinbefore stated the present interlocking pin socket brickstructure, while it may be used in combination with any number of othersimilar brocks, may also be used in association with an apertured plateor other starting means, such as' that illustrated in FIGUREV, eitherfor building up a roof arch in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 6 or formaking a roof repair.

' In the use of a starter plate such as that shown in FIG- URE 7 andgenerally designated 62 such plate may be suspended in a suitable mannerfrom a furnace superstructure and one or more of the bracks connectedtherewith by engaging the headed end 'of the pin in a slot 64 in theplate 62. However, the plate may have one or any number of such slots,shown a keyhole slots 64 therein depending upon the number of bricks tobe suspended in side by side relation.

In FIGURE 6 the numeral 66 designatesan element of may be supported bymeans of a tie rod or tie rods 68. If the starter plate is of the formshown in FIGURE 7, for supporting several bricks, here indicated asfive, by the provision of the five keyhole slots 64, then severalsuspension tie rods 68 may be employed each being attached to the beam66 and having an end engaged in an aperture 70 in the starter plate.After a brick has been applied to the high side of the starter plate,that is the side nearest to the crown of the roof, assuming that apatching or repair job is being done, then additional bricks may becoupled with the brick applied to the starter plate to work upwardly inbuilding up the roof structure.

In the use of the pin-socket bricks for building up a roof from theskewback 72, use may be made of a starter plate 74 suspended by a tierod or other means as illus trated, the tie rod shown being designated76 and secured to an adjacent beam, with the first brick applieddirectly against and secured to the skewback as illustrated. The platewould have a bottom flange 74a to support the first brick, restingagainst the skewback, as shown.

Alternatively the skeyback may be provided with a suitable slotted meansfor attaching the first brick thereto instead of using the flanged plate74.

Where one brick is coupled directly to and against the side of anotherbrick it will be obvious that the head flange 46 of the pin will be setforwardly of the adjacent face of the brick body to provide between suchface of the brick body and the rear side of the head 46, a space justsufficient to snugly receive the flange or edge of the slot 40 whenthehe'ad 46-is slipped down into the socket claims.

38. Thus the two adjacent or opposing faces of the bricks will bedisposed in close engaging relationship.

Where a starter plate is used 'such as the plate 74 or the plate 62shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 the portion of I the pin carrying the flange orflanges 46 and 48 would be added would then, of course, be attached tothe high 'side of the brick attached to the starter plate asillustrated.

While in describing the socketed head, reference has been made to theform or contour as being polygonal, or any suitable contour, other thancircular, it is to be understood that this does not exclude a form whichcould be partly circular, or elliptical, with one or more flat areas,

or any form which would be effective to prevent place-' ment of the headin any but the correct working position.

As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the presentembodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, since thescope of the invention is defined by theappended claims rather than bythe description preceding-them, and all changes that fall within themetes and bounds of the claims or that form their functional as well asconjointly cooperative equivalents, are therefore intended to beembraced by those I claim: 1. An interlocking brick, comprising a bodyof brick material having two opposite functional faces, a preform recessin one of said faces, a preformed passageway having an end opening inand leading from said recess through the brick body and having anopposite end open ing through the other one of said faces and apin-socket unit comprising at least two portions, each of said portionshaving an inner end part inserted in one end of said passageway, one ofsaid portions having a headed pin on the outer 'end thereof projectingbeyond said other one of said faces, the other one of said portionshaving means on the outer end thereof inserted in and operativelypositioned'in said recess and formed to provide a socket adapted toreceive the headed pin of a like portion of a pin-socket unit of anotherbrick, and means detachably coupling together the said inner end partsof the two said portions whereby the pin-socket unit is detachable fromand attachable to the brick body.

2. The invention according-to claim 1, wherein the, said means on theouter end of the other one of said portions, comprises an enlargement ofthe last said one of the portions forming a head having a side at andsubstantially coplanar with the adjacent face of rthe brick body andwherein the said socket opens through the said side of the head.

3. An interlocking brick structure comprising a brick body having twoopposite functional faces and having a top, the body having a preformedpassageway therethrough opening at its ends through said functionalfaces, one open end of the passageway being enlarged to provide apreformed recess of non-circu1ar contour in the thepassageway andremoval of the unit therefrom, one of 1 said two portions having anenlarged outer end forming a heady positioned in and having aperimetrical contour substantially conforming to the contour of saidrecess, said head having an exposed outer side and having a top, thehead having a socket therein opening through said sideof the headinto-the socket, and a preformed entrancev recess in the top portion ofthe brick body above the first recess providing means for entering saidouter end and head flange respectively above said other portion intosaid slot and socket of a similar brick carried unit.

4. The invention according to claim 3, wherein the said preformedentrance recess opens throughthe top:

of the brick body.

5. The invention according to claim 3, wherein the contour of said headand of the first said recess is polygonal.

6. An interlocking brick structure comprising a brick body having twoopposite faces, the body having a preformed passageway therethroughbetween the faces and terminating at each end in a preformed enlargedrecess in each of the faces, an elongate unit extending through saidpassageway and embodying a first portion and a second portion, each ,ofsaid portions having an inner end part and an outer end part and eachportion having its inner end part inserted'into oneend of thepassageway, means detachably joining said inner end parts togetherwhereby the unit may be attached to and detached from the brick body,said first portion having a socket head at the outer end thereof seatedin one of said preformed recesses and said second portion having a firsthead flange adjacent to its outer end and seated inthe other one of saidpreformed recesses, said second portion having a second head flangespaced from the first head flange and also spaced outwardly from theadjacent face of the brick body, said socket head having a top andhaving a socket therein opening through said top and also having a slotleading into said socket and opening through said top, and said socketand, slot being dimensioned to receive the second mentioned head flangeand the adjacent part' of the second portion between the head flanges ofanother similar brick carried unit.

7. An interlocking brick structure comprising a brick body having a topsurface and having two opposite side functional faces, the brick bodyhaving a preformed passageway therein extending transverselytherethrough be tween said opposite side functional faces and located below said top surface, each of said opposite side faces having apreformed recess therein and each recess forming a terminal part of saidpassageway, one of said recesses being of polygonal contour andcommunicating withan upwardly extending preformed entrance recess in thebrick body which opens through the adjacent face of the :body andthrough the top surface thereof, a pin-socket unit comprising a firstportion and a second portion, each of said portions having an inner endpart and an outer end part and each portion having an inner end partinserted into one end of the passageway, means detachably joining saidinner and outer end parts together whereby the unit may be attached toand detached from the brick body, said first portion having an enlargedouter end forming a headhaving a front face and having a top, said headbeing of a correspondingperipheral contour to and being seated .insaidpolygonal contoured recess, said head having a socket therein openingthroughsaid top of the head, the head having a slot opening into thesocket through said front face and opening through the top of the head,said socket and slot leading into said preformed entrance recess, thesaid means detachably joining said inner end parts together being acoupler element between and having threaded connection with said innerend parts, said second portion having at the said outer end thereof aninner head flange anda terminal head flange, said head flanges being inspaced relation, the said inner head flange being dimensioned to engagein the recess in the brick body opposite from the polygonal recess andsaid terminal head flange and a part of the said second portion betweenthe flanges extending outwardly beyond the adjacent functional face andbeing dimensioned to respectively enter the slot and socket of asocketed head of a corresponding unit by way of the I said entrancerecess in the brick body.

8. An interlocking brick structure according to claim 7, wherein saidsocket head has opposite chamfered top corners corresponding to angledcorner portions of the polygonal recess in the brick body.

9. An interlocking brick comprising a body of brick material having twoopposite functional faces and a top face, a preformed recess in one ofsaid faces, aj preformed passageway having an end opening in and leadingfrom said recess through the brick body and having an opposite-endopening through the other one of said I faces and a pin-socket unitcomprising at least two portions, each of said portions having an innerend part inserted in one end of said passageway, one of said portionshaving a headed pin on the outer end thereof projecting beyond saidother one of said faces, the other one of said portions having means onthe outer end thereof inserted in and openatively positioned in saidrecess and formed to provide a socket adapted to receive the headed pinof a like portion of a pin-socket unit of an- 8 other brick, and meansdetachably coupling together th said inner end parts of the two saidportions whereby the pin-socket unit is detachable from and attachableto the brick body, said socket being exposed at the adjacent face of thebrick body and having a top side opening into a slot in the brick bodywhich extends to and opens through the top face of the brick body.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,186,501 6/16Stafiord -441 X 1,834,842 12/31 Houghtaling 50-446 X 2,142,305 1/39Davis 50-437 2,210,028 8/40 Swanson.

2,281,482 4/42 Crayton -9 2,594,027 4/52 J akeway 85-9 X 2,885,976 5/59McGill et a1 -99 2,951,274 9/ 60 Elsner.

FOREIGN PATENTS 144,440 6/20 Great Britain.

FREDERICK MATTESON, IR., Primary Examiner.

FREDERICK KE'I'IERER, JAMES W. WESTHAVER,

Examiners.

1. AN INTERLOCKING BRICK, COMPRISING A BODY OF BRICK MATERIAL HAVING TWOOPPOSITE FUNCTIONAL FACES, A PREFORM RECESS IN ONE OF SAID FACES, APREFORMED PASSAGEWAY HAVING AN END OPENING IN AND LEADING FROM SAIDRECESS THROUGH THE BRICK BODY AND HAVING AN OPPOSITE END OPENING THROUGHTHE OTHER ONE OF SAID FACES AND A PIN-SOCKET UNIT COMPRISING AT LEASTTWO PORTIONS, EACH OF SAID PORTIONS HAVING AN INNER END PART INSERTED INONE END OF SAID PASSAGEWAY, ONE OF SAID PORTIONS HAVING A HEADED PIN ONTHE OUTER END THEREOF PROJECTING BEYOND SAID OTHER ONE OF SAID FACES,THE OTHER ONE OF SAID PORTIONS HAVING MEANS ON THE OUTER END THEREOFINSERTED IN AND OPERATIVELY POSITIONED IN SAID RECESS AND FOR MED TOPROVIDE A SOCKET ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE HEADED PIN OF A LIKE PORTION OFA PIN-SOCKET UNIT OF ANOTHER BROCK, AND MEANS DETACHABLY COUPLINGTOGETHER THE SAID INNER END PARTS OF THE TWO SAID PORTIONS WHEREBY THEPIN-SOCKET UNIT IS DETACHABLY FROM AND ATTACHABLY TO THE BRICK BODY.